1QH

The Thanksgiving Hymns
Dead Sea Scrolls

But what is flesh (to be worthy) of this? What is a creature of clay for such great marvels to be done, whereas he is in iniquity from the womb and in guilty unfaithfulness until his old age? Righteousness, I know, is not of man, nor is perfection of way of the son of man: to the Most High God belong all righteous deeds. The way of man is not established except by the spirit which God created for him to make perfect a way for the children of men, that all His creatures may know the might of His power, and the abundance of His mercies towards all the sons of His grace. As for me, shaking and trembling seize me and all my bones are broken; my heart dissolves like wax before fire and my knees are like water pouring down a steep place. For I remember my sins and the unfaithfulness of my fathers.

Luke 2:14

New Testament

11 Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us.”

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 Notes and References

"... Most scholars agree, rightly, that the Greek word eudokias stands for the Hebrew word rason (good pleasure) and refers not to the good will of men, but either to the will of God conferring grace on those he has chosen or to the pleasure of God delighting in and approving of the goodness in men's lives. Until now there had been no known text in which this Hebrew term for God's good pleasure was used to designate men as Luke 2:14 does. However, C. H. Hunzinger has pointed out that the phrase 'sons of his good pleasure' occurs in the Qumran Hymns (1QH 4). It is now found also in 1QH 11. The Hymns and the Manual of Discipline found in the Qumran area show the deeply religious sentiment of the community which possessed these books and lived in the Judean desert in the time of Christ. Their teaching and pious way of life certainly could have had an influence outside the community, and prepared for the message of the gospel. There is no reason why sincere Israelites like the Bethlehem shepherds, Simeon, Zechariah, John the Baptist, his disciples, and Christ's future apostles could not have been acquainted with then and have held them in high esteem. The ideas and religious language of these texts, therefore, may well cast light on the language of the Gospels ..."

Vogt, Ernest "Peace Among Men of God's Good Pleasure: Luke 2:14" in Stendahl, Krister & James H. Charlesworth, ed., The Scrolls and the New Testament (pp. 114-117) Harper & Brothers, 1957

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